Found a bad bug in Mad Programmer's latest gsGetFile (and, therefore, all the applications building on it) affecting all pre-WM2

If you don't know Mad Programmer's utilities but would really want to have some added functionality for your Pocket PC for free, then, it's high time you checked out his utilities.

One of the most important of them is File Dialog Changer, which greatly extends the traditional file load/save/install dialog functionality of the Windows Mobile operating system. You may want to read this blog entry, along with the linked threads from there, on it.

His other very important utility is Fonts on Storage, which allows for installing your additional font files on storage cards (by default, without any hacks like Fonts on Storage, fonts can only be installed in main RAM).

I've been shown a very strange problem today: FDC acting very strangely on pre-WM2003SE operating systems. First, the labels aren't as if they were displayed in Japanese. What is even worse, the lower toolbar, which has one the most important buttons - the one that steps back to the parent directory of the current one -, is completely missing. Some screenshots:

PPC2k2, installing a CAB file

WM2003, installing a CAB file

WM2003, saving a file

Note that the toolbar in all these screenshots are the toolbar of the application that the dialog window was originated from; for example, File Explorer, Resco File Explorer and Pocket Word.

It's only with WM2003SE that everything is OK:

WM2003SE, saving a file

WM2003SE, installing a CAB file

I've scrutinized the problem and found out that gsGetFile, on which FDC also relies on, is not PPC2k2/WM2003-compliant any more, unlike old(er) versions. The Mad Programmer homepage doesn't contain the old version. Fortunately, I still had it on my local computers and made, therefore, available to the public. It can be downloaded from here. Again, use this file with anything older than WM2003SE, not the gsGetFile version currently available on the official Mad Programmer homepage!

Incidentally, I've also tested whether the new gsGetFile version works flawlessly under WM2003SE with CAB files (vxUtil, several Astraware games etc; see a more complete list of non-WM2003SE + FDC-compatible titles in the linked articles) that have caused a prompt soft reset. Unfortunately, this bug hasn't been fixed in the latest version either. Therefore, the usability of FDC on WM2003SE is still questionable.

Finally, don't forget that version 1.60 of FDC is meant for WM5 only. If you copy it into \Windows of a Pocket PC with an earlier operating system, no Control Panel Applet will be shown – therefore, you won't be able to use it. You will, therefore, need to stick to version 1.50 with older operating system versions.

Also note that the Mad Programmer homepage lists version 1.61 as the latest FDC version for WM5. The ZIP file currently available, however, is the same as was with version 1.60; its internal date is 27/Oct, as opposed to the 19/Nov internal date of version 1.61 listed on the homepage. This may mean Mad Programmer has forgotten to update version 1.60 of FDC with version 1.61.